Fossil Fuel in Iran - Essay Example

FOSSIL FUEL IN IRAN Name: University: Course: Lecturer: Date Part 1 Introduction When the term fossil fuels are mentioned, it refers to hydrocarbons, primarily, natural gas, coal, and fuel oil. Fossil fuels are formed from the remains of dead animals and plants (Curley, 2012). Commonly, fossil fuels also comprise of natural resources that contain hydrocarbon, and that are not derived from plant and animal sources. Sometimes they are referred to as mineral fuels (Gibson, 2000). The use of fossil fuels has lead to development of large-scale industries, as well as supplanted mills that are driven by water, alongside the combustion of peat or wood for heat. The term fossil fuels is a general word for buried organic material geologic deposits that are combustible, derived from decayed animals and plants, which have been changed to coal, crude oil, heavy oils or natural gas through exposure to pressure and heat in the crust of the earth over numerous million years. Fossil fuels have been largely burnt by humans causing carbon dioxide emission that is among the greenhouse gases that lead to radioactive forcing, as well as, causing global warming (Gibson, 2000). A diminutive fraction of fuels that contain hydrocarbon are biofuels that are derived from the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and therefore they do not elevate the net volume of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. History of fossil fuels The cavemen were the first people to discover fossil fuels. They utilized peat and coal for heat. They were first discovered in the U.S.A in 1673 (Mannion, 2006). However, it was not mined commercially until in the mid 1700. Commercial petroleum exploitation, mainly as a replacement for animal source oils such as whale oil, for utilization in oil lambs started way back in the 19th century. Before the latter half of the previous century, water mills and wind mills availed the needed energy in industries such as sawing wood, milling flour, pumping water, alongside burning peat or wood, which availed domestic energy (Mannion, 2006). The large-scale utilization of fossil fuels, coal at first, and petroleum later, to run steam engines allowed the industrial revolution. Concurrently, gas lights utilizing coal gas or natural gas were coming into large utilization. The creation of the internal combustion engines, alongside its utilization in trucks and automobiles significantly elevated gasoline and diesel oil demand, which are both derived from fossil fuels. Other transportation forms such as aircraft and railways also needed fossil fuels. Use of fossil fuels today The live of a human being is touched in all aspects by fossil fuels. For instance apart from refining petroleum into fuels such as gasoline that is utilized to power engines, it can as well be separated into petrochemicals while are used in the making of plastics, paints, medicine, and so many other products (Pfeiffer, 2006). Fossil fuels are extremely essential today since they can be burned, or in other terms oxidized to water and carbon, to produce significant volumes of energy. The utilization of coal for instance, predates recorded history. It was utilized to run furnaces for metal ore melting. Hydrocarbons from seeps that are semi-solid were also burned in the past. However, these materials were mainly utilized for embalming and waterproofing. Tar, which is a leftover from the extraction of petroleum, is utilized in road construction (Schobert, 2013). Problems associated with fossil fuels The key problem regarding fossil fuels is that they are limited and non-renewable. This implies that at some point, there will be no fossil fuels. Even though the oil deposits in the world are far from getting depleted, it is for sure that one day, unless some plans for alternative sources of fuel are made, the oil will be no more (Roberts, 2005). Unfortunately, the limited fossil fuels have led to an extremely increased demand for them, which is another problem associated with fossil fuels. Countries such as India and China, which are highly populated, require a lot of these fuels. The increased demand in these countries, and other developed and developing countries will continually lead to soaring prices of fossil fuels. The other key and most talked about problem is the environmental degradation caused by these fuels. The extraction of fossil fuels damages the environment (Roberts, 2005). Additionally, burning them to emit energy leads to emission of dangerous gases that cause global warming, which is a problem the world is trying to contain, now. If something is not done, economies will crumble. Part 2 Alternative sources of fuels One thing that is clear is that fossil fuels are non-renewable and not so environmentally friendly. Additionally, the fear that one day the world will run out of these fuels sends a clear message that something should be done (Johansson & Burnham, 2000). Well luckily, there are alternatives that are renewable and that cause extremely minimal harm to the environment. Energy resources such as wind power, water power, and solar power are all renewable resources with minimal depletion to the environment. Solar power is energy from the sun. The rays from the sun contain energy that is trapped by solar panels and stored in batteries. Wind power is utilized in running turbines that in turn generate energy that can be utilized in industries and at home. Water power, on the other hand is where water is utilized in running water turbines that in turn produce electric energy which is utilized at homes and in industries. Nuclear energy is also an alternative source of energy. Nuclear power is utilized by using a nuclear reactor to heat a working fluid, which is then utilized to produce steam pressure that is converted into mechanical work for water propulsion and generation of electricity. This alternative is slowly catching pace with approximately 15% of the world utilizing it (Johansson & Burnham, 2000). Conservation of energy resources is extremely essential since the human life is dependant of these sources. If these resources are not conserved, they will get exhausted (Johansson & Burnham, 2000). Additionally, over use of these resources leads to changes in climate such as global warming. Therefore, conservation of resources will reduce their impact to the climate. Part 3 Fuel in Iran The needs for electricity in Iran are currently met by utilization of traditional sources of energy such as oil, coal and natural gas. Nonetheless, Iran has been unable to keep up with its increasing electricity consumption utilizing these finite resources. In the event that oil and natural gases are not replaced by other sources of energy, and the production of crude oil is not increased significantly, Iran may end up being a net importer of fossil oil in the coming decade. Therefore, there has been an increased emphasis from the government on the utilization of alternative energy sources. Iran uses other renewable sources of energy including hydroelectric energy (8,500 MW), nuclear energy, solar energy (67 MW), wind energy (92470 kWh) and geothermal energy (Ebel, 2010). The future plans for Iran are to increase its power output. This will be done through maximization of the available energy resources. However, its main focus will be on nuclear energy, which has revolutionized the energy industry due to its potential. Nuclear energy is a kind of energy source that produces more electricity than any other source of renewable energy source. Currently, Iran is able to produce only 1% of the total generated electricity, from nuclear power (Ebel, 2010).. With the increasing demand for energy in Iran, the government has decided to concentrate more on nuclear power for energy production in the future. This plan will see Iran generating 20,000 MW of electricity generated from nuclear by 2020 (Ebel, 2010).. If this succeeds, then it could lead to the conservation of approximately more than 180 million barrels of crude oil per year, equivalent to a yearly saving of approximately $ 15 billion (Ebel, 2010).. However, this projected has been questioned on the bases of the intended use of this energy since in the wrong hands, it can be used in the production of nuclear bombs that are lethal. Iran does not have any difference from other countries. It key objective of nuclear energy pursuit is to produce clean energy for its increasingly expanding population. Despite the fact the Iran enjoys vast natural gas and oil reserves, these sources of energy are limited, in addition to diminishing at an extremely fast pace. Therefore, if allowed to pursue its interest in nuclear energy, the future of Iran will be so bright (Ebel, 2010). Additionally, it will have reduced the environmental hazards that come with fossil fuels. A combination of nuclear energy and energy from other renewable sources will see Iran meeting the demand of energy required by the rapidly growing population. Conclusion Fossil fuels have been of significant essence to the lives of human beings. Nonetheless, the associated problems have threatened to deplete comfort these fuels have given to mankind. Therefore, this has led to the invention of alternative sources of energy such as nuclear energy, solar energy, wind energy and so on. However, these alternative sources have not been fully exploited thus the threat still remains. It is only by fully exploiting these alternative sources that mankind will be saved from the problems associated with fossil fuels. References Curley, R. (2012). Fossil fuels. New York: Britannica Educational Pub. in association with Rosen Educational Services. Ebel, R. (2010). Geopolitics of the Iranian nuclear energy program : but oil and gas still matter : a report of the CSIS Energy and National Security Program. Washington, D.C: Center for Strategic and International Studies. Gibson, D. (2000). Fossil fuels. Mankato, Minn: Smart Apple Media. Johansson, T. & Burnham, L. (2000). Renewable energy : sources for fuels and electricity. Washington, D.C: Island Press. Mannion, A. (2006). Carbon and its domestication. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer. Pfeiffer, D. (2006). Eating fossil fuels oil, food and the coming crisis in agriculture. Gabriola Island, B.C: New Society Publishers. Roberts, P. (2005). The end of oil : on the edge of a perilous new world. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Schobert, H. (2013). Chemistry of fossil fuels and biofuels. Cambridge England New York: Cambridge University Press. Read More